A Taiwan medical research team reported that the survival rate of patients who receive emergency treatment using the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) life-support system is twice as high as among those who are given conventional cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) alone.
The study, conducted by a group of physicians at National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) on patients aged 18 years old to 75 years old between 2004 and 2006, assessed the effects of ECMO after in-hospital cardiac arrest.
FAMOUS PHYSICIANS
The university presented the results of the research on Wednesday. Physicians who worked on the project include Chen Yih-sharng (陳益祥), Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and Lu Hsi-yu (虞希禹) from the cardiac surgery department and Lin Jou-wei (林昭維) from the cardiology department of NTUH’s Yunlin branch.
BIG NAME
The study, entitled Cardiopulmonary resuscitation with assisted extracorporeal life-support versus conventional cardiopulmonary resuscitation in adults with in-hospital cardiac arrest: an observational study and propensity analysis, was published in the July 7 edition of The Lancet, the world’s leading independent general medical journal, an NTUH spokesman said.
He said that the hospital had used the ECMO procedure on 132 patients and — as there have been only 267 recorded cases of EMCO use around the world over the past three years — the study has drawn international attention in medical circles.
The process involves the insertion of a catheter into the femoral artery/vein and circulating blood through a pump, heat exchange, and oxygenator before returning it to the body.
In the study, 113 of 975 patients who suffered in-hospital cardiac arrest and were given CPR for more than 10 minutes were enrolled in the conventional CPR group, while 59 were enrolled in the extracorporeal group.
BETTER RATES
The researchers found that among the patients who had received extracorporeal CPR the survival and discharge rate was 24 percent, while among those who received conventional CPR it was 11 percent.
Some 82 percent of cardiac arrest patients who were treated with the ECMO procedure recovered and returned to work within one year, the study showed.
Yang Pan-chi (楊泮池), the dean of NTU’s College of Medicine, said the study had altered the traditional medical definition that a patient may be pronounced dead if 30 minutes of CPR proves unsuccessful.
ADEQUATE OXYGEN
The study proves that is possible to save the life of patients with heart failure as long as their brains and other major organs are receiving an adequate supply of oxygen, Yang said.
This may serve to encourage others in the medical field to conduct research aimed at developing a simpler and cheaper way to supply oxygen to the brain and other organs in the treatment of trauma, he said.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
‘SAME OLD TRICK’: Even if Beijing resumes individual travel to Taiwan, it would only benefit Chinese tourism companies, the Economic Democracy Union convener said China’s 10 new “incentives” are “sugar-coated poison,” an official said yesterday, adding that Taiwanese businesses see them clearly for what they are, but that Beijing would inevitably find some local collaborators to try to drums up support. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark ahead of a news conference the General Chamber of Commerce is to hold today. The event, titled “Industry Perspectives on China’s Recent Pro-Taiwan Policies,” is expected to include representatives from industry associations — such as those in travel, hotels, food and agriculture — to request the government cooperate with China’s new measures, people familiar with
RSS